‘I am so comfortable at work today!’” says Bud Hammer,President of Atlantic Westchester, an HVAC service firm.“But when employees are satisfied with their environment,it’s simply not a topic of conversation.”“Happy tenants are quiet tenants,” reiterates KevinBrown, Vice President of Engineering with ABM, a facilitysolutions company. “You already spend a majority of yourjob addressing concerns and fixing problems. Use thesecomfort complaints as asign that your buildingis spending too muchenergy trying to get thejob done. With a bit ofunderstanding and afew system tweaks, youcould uncover massivesavings.”So what are the idealthermal conditions forworkers? Regrettably,there isn’t a perfect set-ting that will eliminatedistraction. Numerousstudies have tested howmuch productivity isimpacted by tempera-ture, but the results areentirely dependent onthe task at hand. Forinstance, employeeswho rely on manualdexterity, even for something as simple as typing, suffermore in colder interiors, but any teacher can tell you howlistless students become on a hot and humid day. Even try-ing to achieve a neutral setting can also be in vain because“people often prefer to feel warmer than neutral in winterand cooler than neutral in summer,” notes a report by theWorld Green Building Council.

Rather than one mythical setting, aim for a range of temperatures that can be refined based on climate conditions
and occupant density. For example, many municipal codes
require a minimum occupied temperature of 68 degrees
F. from October to April and up to 78 degrees from April
to October. You can also consult ASHRAE Standard 55:
Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy,
which was last updated in 2013. It offers a host of operational parameters that acknowledge the interconnectedness between air speed, temperature, humidity and occupant access to thermostat controls.

ASHRAE 55 also offers an occupant survey (see page 24).
This tool can be used to document overall satisfaction at a
specific point in time. Brown says you can even use a simple online query tool like SurveyMonkey. Gather feedback
several times a year to gain a complete sense of your thermal dynamics. The key is to make an authentic effort to
address occupant needs. If you do nothing with the feedback, workers will think you’re just trying to placate them
without taking their concerns seriously. Legitimize complaints by looking for patterns of discomfort and genuinely
trying to get to the root of the problem, advises Hammer.

Take Your Building Systems to Task

If your occupant survey indicates there’s a persistent
issue, it’s time to look into system performance.

“On a typical building, the biggest factors that affect thermal comfort are the air conditioning system itself,” Brown
notes. “Look at air speed, moisture level and air temperature to figure out what’s going on.”

Draftiness is a common complaint and can be caused
by incorrect pressurization, leaky windows or too much
air blowing out of a ceiling grille, says Hammer. As heat is
lost through the envelope, someone sitting near an exterior
wall may feel an uncomfortable current of air as the heat is
drawn out of the building. Humidity, which comes from
excess moisture,can alternately create a stuffy, suffocating
atmosphere or a cold and clammy one.

Returns that are too high can also be a culprit,
Hammer adds. Tall ceilings may be trendy, but remember
that warm air rises – if the grille or register is too far above
individuals, the heated air may never reach them in the first
place. Conversely, not having enough diffusers could be
the problem. This is often the case when there has been
a major fit-out or remodel, explains Brown. The original
HVAC design may no longer be able to support the new
layout and its accompanying heat load.

If you use a VAV system, flimsy ductwork may be toblame. “Flexible ducts are generally acceptable 6-8 feet pastthe VAV box, but we often uncover runs of 20-30 feet,” saysBrown. “Use rigid ductwork atthese lengths to ensure pres-Lastly, oversized equip-ment could be at the heart ofthe issue, Hammer observes.Many systems have beendesigned to make the buildingcomfortable against the hot-test and coldest conditions. Butthese only represent a hand-ful of days each year, not youraverage thermal needs.

10 Fixes to Create a HappyBalance

Once you’ve identified how
your building systems are
falling short of thermal expectations, start with budget-friendly tweaks and work your
way up to full replacements
or redesigns if necessary. Try
one of these 10 areas to secure
improved comfort.